MORE than 2,500 years young, hip and more accessible to the West than ever - Buddhism has been 'reheated'.
As Tibet opens its borders, more and more foreigners are journeying to one of the world's last medieval cultures in search of their future. Recently actor Richard Gere donned the scarlet headband and ethnic beads and booked a room at the Lhasa Holiday Inn.'I'm trying to open my heart,' he told an inquisitive Vogue magazine, adding, 'but it's a tough gig, man'.
It is a bizarre symbiosis. Tibetans want dollars. They, like most humans, want bigger televisions, smaller stereos and, in all probability, a Pro-Shiatsu massager in every room.
Yet in parts of the world where people have wall-sized TVs and an attic full of mechanical massagers, there is a growing demand for something our manufacturers cannot supply and something Tibet has in spades: spiritual enlightenment, a sense of meaning, the antidote to death, Om sweet Om. And it is not just the odd supermodel or millionaire on a 'tough gig', Tibet is experiencing an influx of intrepid, successful and puzzled Westerners.
Most tread the dharma trail in disguise. 'Oh, we're just here for a holiday' or 'thought we'd visit before it got spoiled' go the usual platitudes. But sooner or later appointments are made, gurus consulted, legs crossed and incense lit.
On the eve of the Tibetan New Year I decided it was time to step out on the inner path and joined a group of 12 Hong Kong people on a tour called Mystic Tibet. On the bus, it was clear everyone was still travelling incognito. The headbands, beads and colourful ethnic robes favoured by Gere and his supermodel wife Cindy Crawford were not to be seen. Instead there were chunky designer jumpers, the kind of watches advertisers call timepieces and, on the back of a Kowloon property mogul, a black mink bomber jacket. I felt at home.